Editorial

Dear
Reader,
In a
modern business context, one of the most distinctive features of information
technology is the fact that it can add efficiency and value across an entire
swathe of processes and specific operational disciplines. Clinical workflow
design is, in some senses, the keystone for the healthcare IT arch, and
clinical information systems (CIS) are the subject of this issue’s cover story.
We...

HITM News

The
European Association of Healthcare IT Managers (HITM) is a non-profit
pan-European umbrella association of all relevant national healthcare IT
associations in Europe. Believing in the fundamental importance of unifying
healthcare IT professionals at European and global levels, HITM is committed to
increasing the professional authority and responsibility of healthcare IT
managers and representing...

Focus
on the Patient
As of
2008, a total of 54 billion Euros will be available for healthcare in the
Netherlands. Minister of Health Ab Klink argues that “ the keyword for the
coming years is attention for the patient ” and together with State Secretary –
Jet Bussemaker aims to focus on six themes : quality and innovation, prevention,
safety, working in healthcare, and participation. It has been...

Czech
Healthcare System Far Friendlier to PatientsThis year’s
Euro Health Consumer Index (EHCI) survey found the Czech health care system to
have become much more patient-friendly than last year. The Czech Republic
placed 15th out of 29 countries (the 27 EU member states, plus Switzerland and
Norway), compared to 2006, when it ranked 22nd out of 26 countries. The Czech Republic received 612 points,...

International
Conference
“Telemedicine: Myths and Reality”
The
Association for Ukrainian Telemedicine and e-Health Development (a Member of
The European Association of Healthcare IT Managers) presented the 1st
International Conference “ Telemedicine : myths and reality ” on November 8 and
9 in Lviv, Ukraine.
One of
the key goals of the Association for Ukrainian Telemedicine and e-

New
e-Health Programme to be Implemented
A new
Latvian e-Health programme, devised by the Ministry of Health, plans to devote
over 40 million Euros to the development of e-Health applications over the next
three years.
The
objective of the programme is to ensure that all citizens and healthcare providers
are able to obtain clear, highquality and reliable information, in a quick and
efficient way....

More
than 100 participants from regions across Europe gathered at the joint workshop
” Better Aging, Better Care ” organised by Intel and AGE in Brussels in October
2007. The event was held during the European Week of Regions and Cities.
The
debate focused on one of the most pressing issues of our time: how will we care
for our aging population?
Therefore,
social inclusion, financial issues and...

Under
the auspices of Member of the European Parliament Milan Cabrnoch, MD, a Seminar
on e-Health Standards and Interoperability was held on October 15 at the
European Parliament, Brussels.
In his
opening speech, Dr Cabrnoch stated that only efficient and interoperable
e-Health tools and services could fulfill needs and demands of European
citizens. Furthermore, he expressed a sincere appreciation...

4th Edition, Berlin, 10/12 March 2008
Organised
under the high patronage of the European Commission, the German Federal
Ministry of Health and presented for the 4th consecutive year, the World Health
Care Congress Europe is the only major international forum where over 600
health leaders share best practices and successful initiatives for improved
delivery and outcomes in Europe.
Participa

EU Section

When
talking about the Single Market, it should be mentioned that the New Approach
and European standardisation have contributed significantly to its development.
The facilitation of free movement of goods (healthcare included) between Member
States comes as a consequence of the success achieving by the European
standardisation system in removing technical barriers to trade.
With the
removal of...

The
European Health Insurance Card came into being as a political project initiated
by the European Commission with the support of the Barcelona European Council
2002. The main idea behind such a project was to replace all the paper forms needed
at the time to obtain health care during a temporary stay in a Member State
other than the one in which the insurance was held (i.e. forms E110, E111,
E128,...

Cover Story

At the Heart of Healthcare ITAuthorJos Aarts is with theInstitute of Health Policyand Management, ErasmusMedical College, Rotterdam,the [email protected]
Clinical Information Systems (CIS) are becoming critical
to hospital IT infrastructure, in terms of their impact on the security of
healthcare delivery in an increasingly open, networked environment. The key
technical challenges a

It is Interoperable …
Author
GurpreetDhillon
is Professor of Information
Systems at Virginia Commonwealth
University, US.
One Friday evening, my son insisted on riding his bicycle. I
tried convincing him that that road was slippery, that he had to have his
supper and that I was tired, but to no avail. Barely had he begun having fun
when his cycle went out of control and he fell,

Author
Tosh Sheshabalaya
HITM
The debate about the role and reliability of clinical
information systems (CIS) goes back several years.
As far back as 1994, a British Medical Journal editorial
entitled ‘Are clinical information systems safe ?’ portrayed a series of
high-profile failures (which entailed physical harm to patients), and raised
some disturbing questions. These included the la

Features

AuthorMassimiliano Clapsis Research Director, EMEA,for the Government and HealthInsights practice at IDC.The Western Europe healthcare sector is
dealing with different "inconvenient truths".The problem of skyrocketing costs is
possibly one of the best known. However, otherchallenges too, loom large. The quality of
services and delivery paradigms must bechanged to tackle ageing of the society,
chronic...

Effective e-Health in isolated communities
is clearly dependent on access to broadband infrastructure. Currently,
terrestrial technologies like ADSL or cable modem are available for a significant
number of Europeans, at competitive prices. But there are challenges.
According to a European Space Agency study in December 2005,
broadband coverage ranges from 90-98% of the territory of most northern...

Healthcare has, in recent years, been at
the front of a feverish pace of technological change. However, the bulk of such
developments have been in the areas of patient therapy and care. Innovations in
the area of IT systems have been less apparent. And yet, it is IT which – at the moment,
lurking just below the horizon – offers the greatest promise in its potential to
enhance the effective delivery...

Making a
Virtue of Necessity
In the previous issue of Healthcare IT
Management, we noticed the growing compulsions faced by hospital IT managers to
ensure successful backups of their data – especially in the face of the expected
acceleration in data creation as a result of modernisation and e-Health
programmes. One strategic approach to the issue of disaster management and
business continuity involves...

Management

Healthcare
And Six SigmaAuthor
William LaFollette
currently serves on the Board
of Directors of the American
Society for Quality (ASQ).
Six Sigma can reduce defects in services
to unprecedented levels because of its strong emphasis on statistical analysis
and measurement in design, manufacturing, and the entire area of
patient-oriented activities. It is obvious applying Six Sigma has impacts...

The Senior
Leader's Nondeleable RoleAuthorChip Caldwellis president of Chip Caldwell &Associates, and is the NorthernFlorida Regent of the American Collegeof Healthcare Executives.
As a consultant and coach to senior leader
teams, Black Belts, and physician leaders who are learning to use improvement
approaches like lean and Six Sigma in healthcare, Chip Caldwell also takes on
the role of tra

New Technologies
Hold Promise to Revolutionise e-Health
Author
Tosh Sheshabalaya
HITM
The convergence of voice and images has long been a Holy Grail of
the IT and telecoms industry. So far, a swathe of initiatives have led to a
hotchpotch of mixed results. True-blue, real-time videoconferencing, to many
critics, remained as elusive a goal as the paperless office. There was a chasm
between the...

Country Focus: Switzerland

The healthcare system in Switzerland is a
complex combination of public care, subsidised private and wholly privatised
healthcare. The share of public spending, however, is one of Europe’s lowest –
reflecting the fact that Swiss law earmarks the State’s role as a healthcare guarantor
only when the private sector “fails to produce satisfactory results”. Not
surprisingly, on a per capita basis, Switzerland...

E-Health is rapidly emerging at
centre-stage in Switzerland’s healthcare IT agenda. Last June, the Federal
Council approved a National e-Health Strategy for the years 2007 to 2015. The
strategy is based on a proposal from the Federal Office of Public Health, and
follows extensive consultations with a range of concerned parties.
One key element of the Swiss e-Health strategy is the recognition
that...

Known for its intensely confederal system of
politics and decision-making, Switzerland has nevertheless recently began to
coordinate its e-Health initiatives on a national level. Alongside, it is also
opening up to new European and international e-Health standards. To obtain an
overview of policymaker’s perspectives on healthcare and IT in Switzerland,
HITM’s Catalina Ciolan interviewed Adrian Schmid...